The Attorney General is a puppet for the Prime Minister, Nationalist Party Leader Bernard Grech said on Tuesday in an appearance on party media.

Grech was speaking about the Attorney General's decision to withhold the conclusions of the magisterial inquiry into 17 Black from former PN Leader Simon Busuttil and PN MEP David Casa.

Prime Minister Robert Abela has indicated that he is not against the publishing of the 17 Black inquiry, and in his reaction to this, Grech said if that is the case, then Abela should give the order to have it published "as he has done in the past".

The news broke last week that the inquiry into 17 Black and the Panama Papers had concluded, and that several individuals, including former Minister Konrad Mizzi, the former Prime Minister's Chief of Staff Keith Schembri, Yorgen Fenech and others are to face charges.

Leaked emails that had emerged years ago had shown that 17 Black was to allegedly become one of the main sources of funds for the Panama companies that were owned by Schembri and Mizzi.

Interviewed on the party's media, Grech continued that instead of ordering the investigations himself or insisting that they take place, "or seeing to it that the Attorney General did her duty", the Prime Minister is instead saying that "he wants to limit the right for people to seek out help from our courts".

The Opposition Leader said that the Prime Minister's sentiment is "dangerous" and "dictatorial", adding that Abela wants to "remove the rights of people to protect themselves". Grech described this as a "classic case of a dictatorial government" that "wants to remove the people's rights" because "it is not content with losing some of its authority". He described the situation as "anti-democratic". He continued that this is the behaviour of a Prime Minister who continues to confirm that he made a "demonic pact" behind closed doors every time he opens his mouth.

"It is evident that our country is captured by a criminal organisation, and so it is no longer a question of criticising so that the government changes some things around, but it is now the case that for our country to move forward, the government must change."

Grech said that in 2013, the Labour government was elected with the promises that it would address the question of electricity in Malta, "but it never told us that it had a roadmap which was designed and conducted in corruption". He commented that it was evident from the beginning that the matter of Electrogas would be a "monument of corruption".

"We are now in a situation where whenever we turn on the lights, we are contributing to this monument of corruption established by the Labour Party."

The PN Leader commented that if the inquiries had not happened, then the Police Commissioner would not have done anything. He added that the Attorney General, "past and present", also did nothing and that if they did anything then it was "to defend corruption". He added that the Prime Minister also did the same by either enacting corruption or protecting it.

Grech said that the current government is "the same government with the same shortcomings and the same Robert Abela". He commented that the Opposition's power is limited, but that it has used what it does have. He said that the PL's members on the Public Accounts Committee did all they could to deter the PN MPs in the committee and disrupt the investigation.

He stated that the conclusions and the magisterial inquiry need to be published. "The people have a right to know what was stolen, they have a right to know the conclusions and the whole truth." Grech remarked that "truth takes a long time to surface", but that it does eventually have to rise. "If these inquiries were not opened by the PN, then even this would not have surfaced... The Labour government is complicit in this corruption and continues to defend it."

The Opposition Leader reiterated that change in the country cannot take place if the government does not change first. "This mafia web cannot be told to fix things because it is interested in protecting those involved in the fraudulent contracts. It has every interest in remaining in power to protect those involved and continue stealing from the people." Grech said that the people need to make the decision to clean everything which has happened once and for all. He added that the PN has the political will and liberty to make such decisions.

He stated that the PN wants to be closer to the people, more accessible, and more effective, and added that it has a plan to become a nationalist government. Grech again said that the inquiry needs to be published, and added that if the Prime Minister tries to "reduce the rights of the people", then he will find resistance from those who want to give Malta "the new birth that it deserves".